This weekend Microsoft has removed the Windows 10 November Update ISO files from public availability. As noted by ZDNet's Ed Bott, until this weekend the new Windows 10 version 1511 ISO could be downloaded and used for installations by anyone, via the free downloadable Media Creation Tool (MCT). Now that tool just downloads the July 2015 release (build 10240) of Windows 10.
The Windows 10 November Update started to roll out on Thursday 12th November. This Windows 10 update was said to be a significant one in several ways, one of which was that Microsoft said the OS was now mature enough so it could "confidently recommend" it to be deployed across whole organisations. To the average home user there were more easy to see changes such as extra Cortana functionality, some tweaks to the UI and to Microsoft Edge and many updates to the bundled modern UI apps.
Shortly after the announcement of the November Update announcement there were stories of people swerving the rollout queue by using Microsoft's free downloadable Media Creation Tool (MCT). As ZDNet reports, Microsoft's Gabe Aul suggested the impatient get the November Update this way.
So why has Microsoft removed the Windows 10 version 1511 ISO? A spokesperson told ZDNet the following:
The November update was originally available via the MCT tool, but we've decided that future installs should be through Windows Update. People can still download Windows 10 using the MCT tool if they wish. The November update will be delivered via Windows Update.
MSDN subscribers still have access to Windows 10 version 1511 ISO files. With the new ISOs removed some people will have to download and install the old ISO and then later download a large update to bring a system to release 1511. However, at the time of writing, there is still an unpublished link to Windows 10 version 10586 Media Creation Tool which provides a version 1511 ISO file which can be used to update the original Windows 10.
On the date of the Windows 10 November Update release I checked to see any notification from Windows Update, but didn't see one on my desktop PC, I checked again a few days ago – but nothing yet... But it's better not to hurry to update your OS, most of the time. According to Microsoft TechNet Forums, via a NeoWin report, emerging issues with BitLocker might be one of the reasons the November Update seems to have stalled.
